It can be challenging eating out at either a friend’s house or a restaurant when eating a low FODMAP diet - particularly if you’re in the elimination phase of the diet.

It’s usual to indicate to the host or chef which foods you can’t eat and when that’s only a handful of ingredients it’s a convenient way to deliver the message.

The low FODMAP diet isn’t quite that straight forward, and if your symptoms are triggered by more than one of the short chain sugar groups, that could mean quite a list of ‘no go’ foods.

Rather than having your host or chef be left wondering what in the world they can possibly feed you, let them know which foods you can eat - that will give them confidence that your meal will be eaten and enjoyed by you, and should trigger plenty of menu inspirations for them.

There are a few great reliable resources that provide this information:

Monash University - their low FODMAP app has the most comprehensive list of low FODMAP foods, however it’s not a convenient way to provide the information to your host or chef. Instead you could provide the information in the low FODMAP food alternatives column on the ‘Examples of low and high FODMAP foods’ page on their website.

Kate Scarlata - Kate is a registered dietitian with a keen interest in digestive health nutrition and the low FODMAP diet and she has produced a free FODMAPs checklist that groups food into either a low or high FODMAP category. Use the low FODMAP list to send to the host or chef.